Senior Michael Readling got a last-minute opportunity to see Vice President Kamala Harris speak at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22. In an interview with Trapeze Adviser Kate Hawley, Readling described the experience of rubbing shoulders with the politicians, delegates and press gathered at the United Center. The experience left
a lasting impression. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Kate Hawley: Tell me how you wound up with this opportunity.

Michael Readling: My mom has been a part of politics for as long as I can remember, and she got me in touch with somebody who had a ticket.

KH: What was it like when you walked into the United Center?

MR: When I got in, it was packed to the brim, oversold. There were no seats. It felt awesome. It was so sick. Everyone was so well dressed, everyone cared, everyone mattered. It was beautiful.

KH: Be a movie camera for us. Tell us what you saw when you walked around.

MR: So there’s three floors at the United Center. On the first floor, if you walked in the circle, you could go around to where all the news outlets were. You could see some delegates or politicians who were talking to the media, which was amazing. And I got some free lanyards and this little pin. It was super fun just walking around.

KH: Did you see anybody famous?

MR: I saw Tammy Duckworth [senator from Illinois] like, oh, 30 feet in front of me, which was dope. I saw Katherine Clark [Democratic Congresswoman from Massachusetts].

KH: What happened then?

MR: I walked around forever trying to find a seat, and I never did find one. But it was worth it. I saw Elizabeth Warren speak. You could tell that the energy was high after that. I saw so many amazing speakers: Rev. Al Sharpton and the Central Park Five, Kerry Washington, former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger…so many others. And then finally, the Honorable Kamala Harris, Vice President of the Unit- ed States, finally came out to speak. And it took the crowd a good 10 minutes to quiet down.

KH: How were you feeling at that point?

MR: So by that time, I had been standing up for around five hours, and my legs were dying. After a little bit, some of the vendors ran out of water. But when she came out, all those feelings went away. Like, Kamala Harris was in front of me. That’s crazy. It was so, so good. I took pictures. I took videos. I wrote down a few of my favorite parts. She learned from her mom, never complain about injustice, but do something about it. And that, like, opened my mind up. She said, a harm against any one of us is a harm to all of us, which speaks to me being a white, cis male, because I usually don’t have any harm to me, right? And sometimes it’s hard to remember that. Even though what I see seems fine, seems happy, there’s so much going on underneath. When she formally accepted the nomination, that was crazy. The crowd was cheering and waving their signs, and I was, too. That speech really blew me away.

KH: Are you interested in politics as a pathway for your life? Did the convention inspire you?

MR: Honestly? It did inspire me. It inspired me to learn how to become a better public speaker, how to move people like I was moved.